Randy Altschuler is CEO of Xometry, an AI-driven marketplace for on-demand manufacturing, enabling fast, flexible supply chain management.
The manufacturing industry has proved time and again that it can withstand significant disruptions, even if it takes time to rebuild from them. However, there’s one looming concern that perhaps provides the greatest potential threat: the growing lack of high-tech talent in the industry.
From geopolitical events to unthinkable tragedies close to home, manufacturing has always rallied. Manufacturers, large and small, have stepped up to build the goods that fuel our domestic and global economies.
Reshoring, an influx of public and private investment in new and existing infrastructure, and widespread adoption of emerging technologies like AI are rapidly reshaping the American manufacturing landscape.
These tectonic shifts strengthen American manufacturing on the global stage yet also require a new skill set. All of this raises the question: Are we doing enough to attract, train and retain talent as American manufacturing increasingly requires advanced technology skills?
Deloitte, in April 2024, estimated that the net need for new employees in the U.S. manufacturing industry “could be around 3.8 million between 2024 and 2033” and that nearly half of these jobs, or 1.9 million, could go unfilled if workforce challenges are not addressed. These sobering stats threaten the incredible progress American manufacturing has made over the last decade and the gains it stands to make in the decades to come.
As humbling as those figures are, they also paradoxically underscore our industry’s undeniable strength: American manufacturing today is high-tech, and high-tech is American manufacturing. We need the workforce to match it.
We see this juxtaposition in our own data. Our quarterly American Manufacturing Resilience poll with the international polling firm John Zogby Strategies shows that manufacturing CEOs are continuing to reshore at high rates and adopt technologies like AI and machine learning.
Our data also shows that voters overwhelmingly support these moves, and they want their states to be seen as leaders in manufacturing. They recognize it’s good for their local and state economies. Voters also overwhelmingly support public-private partnerships to help retrain workers.
How do we close the gap between an industry in need of workers and not enough skilled workers to begin with? Here are some options.
First, we can start by being better evangelizers of our own industry. No industry will do more to usher in a better world than manufacturing, and we have an obligation to share that story far and wide in hopes of attracting more candidates. We can do that by steering young people toward STEM courses in high school and post-secondary education. We can tout the high-paying and rewarding careers in manufacturing and highlight the incredible entrepreneurial and leadership opportunities that await.
Second, we can do more to attract increasing numbers of women to manufacturing. Today, women only account for one-third of the manufacturing industry overall and only about a quarter of its leaders. Those numbers haven’t budged in years. How do we reverse that? We can start by being visible and joining organizations like Women in Manufacturing.
Third, as we encourage more women to join our ranks, we should also be as deliberate about reaching out to and engaging members of underrepresented groups—encouraging them to pursue STEM education, on-the-job training and apprenticeships and supporting their journeys through unique public-private programs.
Together, these initiatives can be as powerful as any federal legislation, emerging technology or movement like reshoring. It’s up to us to harness talent to fuel our collective future.
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